KATSINA TO HOST ECONOMIC & INVESTMENT SUMMIT NEXT MONTH

The administration of Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state, has conclude plans to stage an economic and investment summit, as part of the measures to diversify the state ailing economic.
The summit which is scheduled to take place between May 9 to 11, next month in Katsina is designed to attract investors, and leaders of the corporate world, within and outside the country.
Ibrahim Tukur Jikamshi, chairman of the organizing committee of the Summit, made this disclosure.
According to him, the summit was conceived as a platform to showcase the state natural economic features to the outside world, as well as to attract investors to the developmental needs of the state.
“The Katsina State Economic & Investment Summit is about diversification of the state economy, it is about creating awareness among the citizens of the state about the need to be entrepreneur conscious, to be creative and self reliance.

“The Summit is going to be a forum where we will bring together people that have the capacity to invest within the state, the country, and the world at large to deliberate on the investment opportunities available in the state, and to look at the ways of tapping into the opportunities ” he explained.
Jikamshi revealed that the summit was also borne out of the policy trust of the administration of His Excellency, Governor Aminu Masari, which is geared at making sure that all under -utilized resources are put into productive use.
He said that the summit with the theme ‘Unlocking Investment Potentials for Sustainable Development’ was conceived in line with the regime `s policy trust which focuses on holistic development of the state.
Commenting further on the summit, the chairman added that the summit would also be showcasing the on the several selling point of the state to the investors that will participate in the event.
“ The selling point of the state are numerous, however, the primarily objective of the summit is to expose to the people what they know or may not have known about the state, One of the thing we want to expose to them is the state agriculture potential, on the first note, when it come to Agriculture, Katsina state is number one in the area of Cotton Production in the country, this is a big selling point, and the state is doing everything possible now to position itself as the leading Cotton production, and processing hub in West Africa.
“Secondly, Katsina state is the number two producer of Sugar Cane in the country, and the state is also trying to position itself as the leading exporter of refined sugar in the ECOWAS sub region. Katsina state is also the second biggest producer of Sorghum in the country; so certainly, the state is trying to leverage on this advantage to attract investment from the world leading producer of the commodity which is America to develop the commodity across the value chain.
“Other selling point is that Katsina is currently ranked number seven in term of ease to doing business in the country, rated far better than Kano, far better than Lagos, even far ahead of Rivers State; these are states that people naturally believe are more viable than Katsina.
“ Similarly, the peace and tranquility which the state is enjoying, is also another very important selling point, and most importantly the state is Land linked with the neighboring Niger Republic, and you know once you are linked to Niger Republic, you are linked as far as to the whole of the Sahel region of the world” he stated.
Jikamshi further disclosed that big corporate entities, such as, Dangote Group, Ericson Food, Cadbury, and other big players in the agriculture value chain would be participating in the summit.
In the same vein, he hinted that several many foreign countries have also indicated interest to participate in the summit, In addition to these companies, many small companies that have interest in playing on a small scale will also be coming too.

Pursuant to the present Katsina State Government policy thrust on Private Sector facilitation, job creation, and entrepreneurial promotion through generation of viable investments in the state, His Excellency directed for an Investment and Economic Summit to be organize with the following objectives;
A. Awareness creation on the state Government new investment climate and policy thrust.
B. Create a flat form for dialogue with potential Investors.
C. Discuss the specific needs of those willing to invest in Katsina state.
D. Share emerging investment ideas with the target Audience.
E. Engage all the state’s unutilized and underutilized natural resources towards creating a an efficient and prosperous state.
F. Revitalize the private sector for higher returns and employment generation; and
G. Enhance the visibility of the State as a viable investment hub.